The company hopes its new approach will generate about 10 per cent of total premiums in the second half of the year.

The method entails approaching a company and making a presentation about its life-insurance products to executives and employees.

Thai Life is offering 28 types of policies, and is promoting the fact that policyholders can pay their premiums by monthly deductions from their salaries.

Chief executive Apirak Thaipattanakul said the company realised the economy was in the doldrums and believed that with this method of payment, employees would be able to buy life insurance more easily.

Apirak said Thai Life remained focused on its sales agent force. However, work-site marketing would be another channel to help the company to grow.

It has targeted at least 3,000 new policies each month and to receive Bt180 million in premiums in the second half of the year. Thai Life received Bt2.35 billion in first-year premiums in the first six months, representing 24-per-cent growth from the same period last year - and in contrast to the industry's almost flat growth.

According to data released by the Thai Life Assurance Association, life-insurers generated Bt8.84 billion in first-year premiums on ordinary policies from January to May, compared to Bt8.91 billion in the same period last year.

Thai Life maintained its place as the country's second-largest life-insurer, although its total premiums posted a 12-per-cent drop to Bt11.69 billion due to a 54-per-cent fall in single-premium sales volume. These are policies in which the buyer pays the premium for the entire term in one go.

Apirak said he had expected a drop in single-premium sales since last year, following the upward interest-rate trend that has shifted customer interest towards regular types of policy.

Piyarat Setthasiriphaiboon

The Nation